OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Visitors to historical parts of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will soon be able to see the lab that helped build the atomic bomb in entirely new ways.
The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a viewing platform for the K-25 plant. It will be open next to the K-25 History Center.
The platform will give visitors and complete view of the 44-acre footprint that the historic plant had. It was where two types of uranium were separated, helping supply uranium that would be used to build the atomic bomb.
The viewing platform is also part of a multi-project agreement signed in 2012 to commemorate Oak Ridge National Laboratory's history and the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which included the K-25 building.
The USACE will start reviewing the constructability of the project while finalizing the design, according to a release from officials. They are expected to be finished with those starting steps in March.
Then, they will put the project out for a bid, so contractors will be able to pitch for the chance to build the platform. Construction is expected to begin in the fall, and the viewing platform is expected to be done by the end of 2023.
Officials said they hope it will help people understand the scope and magnitude of the K-25 site while showing them how much of a feat it was to build the facility.
It was originally built in 1944 and at the time, it was the largest structure in the world, according to a release from officials. However, the public would not know it existed until the end of World War II. It was permanently shut down in 1987.